Years ago, I had a friend whose extended family lived in Czechoslovakia. The Grandmother was finally allowed to come to the US and see her son/his family. The Mom took her with her for all sorts of errands and they finally went to the grocery store. “Where does it come from? What happens when it is all gone? Why aren’t people grabbing things off the shelves?” What was sad (and a wonderful reminder to me at the time) was this woman lived in a Communist country that was so humbled by food that they had to stop the shopping trip. The poor woman couldn’t stop crying.. it was just too much for her.
God has truly shed his amazing grace apon thee oh America, and why should thee forget the hand that has begat thee Oh America and guided and guarded thee through out all these years oh America.
God has not forgotten thee oh America so least thee should not forget about him...
Wow, I was just inspired to write that from God.
God hasn’t given up on America just yet...
Had a similar reaction from a Jewish engineer who fled when the soviets relaxed their Jewish emmigration policey. After a few months during a lunchtime chess game, he paused, looked around, and quietly said, “If the people in the USSR ever learned and truly understood the wealth and freedom in the USA compared to the lies they had been fed, every single party member, every single chekist would be killed within a month.
That visit opened his eyes and convinced him that communism was not the best system after all--and that stop wasn't even on the itinerary or scripted.
My Wife’s Godfather went into the Peace Corps and after retiring became a English teacher in Slovakia. He visited us and brought two of his students, Martina and her brother. The wife and I drove them the 45 minutes to Portland Oregon and went to a mall and Nike Town. They were speechless, not because of the city of Portland, but because of the absolute ridiculous amount of wealth displayed everywhere they looked.
Cleanliness, food availability, the roads, the size of houses, cars, etc..... They were blown away.
They also commented on how great the waiters/waitresses were at restaurants we visited.
Don’t worry we’ll be right there with soviet Czechoslovakia in about 20 years..
Our kids grand kids will be just like that poor woman.
-— The Mom took her with her for all sorts of errands and they finally went to the grocery store. “Where does it come from? What happens when it is all gone? Why aren’t people grabbing things off the shelves?” -—
When my Polish aunt came to visit, she couldn’t believe that the supermarket wasn’t just for show.
She was also amazed by lawns. Every day she took off her shoes to walk around on the lawn.
I went to visit Poland in 1991, shortly after the wall fell. I didn’t see a mowed lawn anywhere, and I traveled to Warsaw and Krakow. It’s impossible to appreciate how GRAY EVERYTHING was without experiencing it firsthand.
I had a friend that was quite high ranking in the military. During the height of the cold war the U.S. had some type of relationship with Russian officials where they would actually spend time together in each others countries(I have no idea why). The Russian official wanted to stop by multiple grocery stores on their first visit.(I think in Maine) After the third grocery store they soon realized that every American had full access to all the food they wanted. Some of the Russian officials would break down in tears.